Indexes

An index is something very, very few of us should contemplate making ourselves. There are professional indexers for the same reason there are professional electricians: we might be able to do the work ourselves, but the pros have the minds and skills to do it better than we ever could. Admittedly, a badly done index won’t burn down your house like badly done electrical work could, but the process of making it could be damaging to your soul.

Nonetheless, I will supply some of the basics for those who wish to try their hand at it. Keep in mind that you’re building a list of concepts, not simply words. Each concept will be an index Topic, and each occurrence of that concept is a Reference.

The suggested workflow goes something like this:

Create a Topic List

Although an optional first step, creating a topic list is strongly recommended. It ensures that you are consistent and are less likely to be redundant. Later, you’ll be able to add references to each more easily as well.

Create Index Markers and References

At each occurrence of a reference to a topic, you create a marker. To better ensure their survival, I recommend doing this after the text is complete and edited. Otherwise, markers may get deleted accidentally.

Generate the Index

This action creates an InDesign story that you can flow onto a page of a document or into a document of its own as part of a Book.

Get Help

The American Society for Indexing website (asindexing.org) has an indexer finder. Hiring a professional is money well spent.

For more details on making your own index, you can read this page from InDesign’s help system: https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/creating-index.html.